Microsoft announces devices to compete with Chromebooks

Debra Rodriguez

In an announcement today timed with the opening of the sprawling Bett ed-tech show in London, Microsoft said it was responding to demands from schools for low-priced technology that also fosters creativity in "STEM" and other subjects. The company also announced new Office 365 learning tools for students.

Windows 10 devices are at the core of Microsoft's education-focused offerings. The Lenovo 300e is a 2-in-1 convertible PC with pen support and it will be available starting at $279 United States dollars. It's powered by an Intel Celeron Apollo Lake processor and starts at just $189.

Each of these new devices are spill resistant and ruggedized, and has been created to have have long battery life and 2x2 Wi-Fi for faster connectivity.

Microsoft unveiled four new Windows 10 devices that are all supposed to offer more than Chrome OS. First, it's partnering up with Pearson, the world's largest education company, to roll out curriculum for both HoloLens and Windows Mixed Reality.

In an interview, Microsoft Vice President for Worldwide Education Anthony Salcito said the company has collected feedback from its K-12 users about what it can do better-and it is responding.

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The fine print: Qualified K-12 schools that purchase 30 or more Microsoft 365 A1 licenses are eligible for free training up to a maximum of 3 days, provided by select, qualified Microsoft Education Training Partners. Microsoft said all the new software capabilities will be available by the start of the next school year. The software features Teams for collaboration, Learning Tools with dictation, OneNote for note taking, and PowerPoint for recording lessons. These include mixed reality learning applications, a special Chemistry Update for Minecraft and a new coding app called MakeCode. And Microsoft also is offering a limited-time (January 22 to May 31) price cut of 10 percent for Commercial and Developer HoloLens units to qualified academic institutions.

A big part of today's Office updates is the new update to OneNote Class Notebook.

OneNote Class Notebook will now include assignment and grade integration with the most widely used School Information Systems in the UK.

Microsoft's Minecraft game is hugely popular with kids and students.

To enable language learners to engage in classroom conversations, our newest updates to Microsoft Teams will also make it easy to translate any conversation or chat into another language.

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